1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to luggage, especially travel luggage, and in particular to luggage having a low-profile clothes hanger bracket capable of holding wire or wooden (suit) hangers.
2. The Related Art
It is well known in luggage items to provide brackets of various designs for holding clothes carried on hangers, e.g., suits or dresses. Such prior art brackets, however, have not been entirely satisfactory, particularly for small, lightweight towable or carry-on bags. The prior brackets have tended to be overly large and obtrusive, or to be incompatible with certain types of commonly used hangers, e.g., wooden suit hangers, or even to require the use of specially designed hangers. It is frequently necessary with prior art brackets, for example, for clothing to be transferred from the conventional hangers used in closets to other or special hangers in order to hang in the luggage item. U.S. Pat. No. 6,595,354 issued Jul. 22, 2003 to Tumi, Inc., the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference in its entirety, overcomes the foregoing disadvantages of the prior art. However, it does not suggest or disclose a harness to avoid unintentional dislodgement of the hangers.
Accordingly, a need exists for a lightweight, compact versatile clothes hanger bracket for luggage items that eliminates the unintentional dislodgement of the hangers.